"It Takes More Than Brains To Succeed"
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It Takes More Than Brains To Succeed In this article:
GREAT DAY? Six weeks ago I was in San Angelo, Texas, where I completed a successful field day with four sales people. The sales manager drove me to the airport for my 5:00 PM flight to Dallas, and then home to Louisville. VOICEMAIL NIGHTMARE I had not checked my voicemail all day -- something I never do. When I received the message, my whole world turned upside down. My wife said that she was at the hospital with our oldest son. Doctors discovered that he had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball on the right side of his brain. That was the bad news; the good news was the tumor was benign. PHYSICALLY FIT How could that be? He was in great physical condition. He was running five miles a day, three days a week. He lifted weights, bench pressing 290 pounds. NO GO TONIGHT I was scheduled to return home to Louisville by 10:30 PM. I was already making plans to go straight to the hospital upon my arrival in Louisville. We boarded the plane on schedule, and the plane backed off from the gate. FLIGHT CANCELLED I knew there was a problem when they shut the engine down, and the pilot made an announcement that the airport mechanics were on their way. After four or five delay announcements, the airline cancelled the flight. If I remained in San Angelo, I would not arrive home until five the next day. WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY When I asked the airline person if he could get me home earlier if I left out of Dallas, he said yes and booked me on the 6:00 AM flight out of Dallas with an arrival time of 8:00 AM in Louisville. It was the only option, so I took it. ATTITUDE = ALTITUDE I spoke to my son and he was very upbeat and positive about the whole situation. In fact, he was taking the news better than I was. I told him I loved him and would see him in the morning. ANGELS AMONG US The next problem was to make the four-hour drive from San Angelo to Dallas. When I asked if anyone wanted to share a rental car with me to Dallas, a young man named Chase volunteered to share the car and the driving with me. After I told him my story, he said that he was going to Dallas anyway, and he would pay for the car. I asked him to at least let me share the driving, but he declined and drove the entire four and one-half hours. When we arrived in Dallas, he asked to pray with me. God sends angels when we need them, and he was my angel that night. In my weakened mental state, I don't know if I could have found my way out of San Angelo, much less find a hotel in Dallas that was close to the airport. Chase knew the highways, and he knew Dallas as home. PRAYER POWER My son had surgery three days later, and the operation went better than the doctor had anticipated. Friends and relatives all over the world were praying for him, and his recovery was nothing short of miraculous. MAKE CALLS, MAKE MORE CALLS, MAKE MANY MORE CALLS The doctor predicted that my son would be out of commission for at least thirteen weeks. Ten days after the surgery, he was on the telephone making sales calls. GET OUT OF HERE Fourteen days after surgery the physical therapist released him from the hospital, saying that they could devote their time to those who most needed it. RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN He was told that he could be out of work for three months. He was back to work within four weeks. He was told that he would not drive for three months. He was back behind the wheel in six weeks. DEDICATION DOES IT My son has always been a very dedicated sales person, and his ordeal brought out the best in him. It has also brought out the best in many of us who have watched him cope and grow. LISTEN FOR YOURSELF If you click to the following link, you can listen to a telephone message that he left me one morning when he was making his sales calls. (if link is not clickable, please copy and paste into your Address Bar): http://www.bonura.com/audio/voice_mail_more_calls.mp3 PROUD AS I CAN BE Do I sound like a proud father! Yes, you bet! I am proud of him, his wife, and his three teenage children for the support they gave throughout his recovery. WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? Now when I hear sales people complain about making sales calls, I say, "My son had brain surgery and was making calls -- What's your problem?"
© 2007-2008 Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. |
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REPRINT info: Joe Bonura About Joe Bonura His background is unique. Joe owned and operated a highly successful advertising agency for 18 years. During that time, he found his advertising campaigns were more effective when he educated his clients in the areas of sales and service. He conducted training seminars for his clients as added value. Word spread that Joe was a quality speaker and more and more people asked him to speak. The demand became so high that he sold the agency to three of his associates to start his own speaking and consulting company, Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. Joe is past President of the Kentucky Speakers Association and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a prestigious designation earned by only 8% of the 3,600 member National Speakers Association. Joe presently serves on the board of directors of NSA. He is author of the audio learning systems "Three-Dimensional Selling®" and "Turning Customer Satisfaction Into Customer Excitement®." He is author of the book Throw the Rabbit—The Ultimate Approach to Three-Dimensional Selling. Click here TO ENGAGE JOE BONURA FOR A TRAINING SEMINAR AT YOUR COMPANY
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